As a former journalist, Tony Abbott will cherish the clipping. And as a Prime Minister eager to prove his foreign policy critics wrong, he will savour it even more.

In an unusual and symbolically significant move, Mr Abbott has co-authored an opinion column with US President Barack Obama for the Los Angeles Times newspaper.

The column, titled ''Obama and Abbott: the US and Australia make common cause in the Pacific'', is being trumpeted by those close to Mr Abbott as the strongest possible rebuke to Labor claims that his stance on climate change is threatening the US relationship and endangering international talks on his overseas trip. Opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Tanya Plibersek branded Mr Abbott a ''Nigel no friends'' on the world stage, and environment spokesman Mark Butler warned that the Prime Minister was undermining Australia's international credibility by his lack of interest in global warming.

But the co-authored column makes no mention of climate change and instead trumpets the close and dependable military and economic ties between Australia and the US. ''We met at the White House to discuss not only how our countries have stood together in defence of peace and freedom during every major conflict of the past century,'' the column states.

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''But also how we will work together going forward on a range of economic and security issues.''

That second sentence holds extra significance, given neither leader has ruled out using armed force to help Iraq's brittle government fend off jihadist militants.

''Today we are standing shoulder to shoulder against terrorism,'' Mr Abbott and Mr Obama asserted.

The column conveys a not-so-subtle warning to China, whose leaders have been aggressively asserting themselves in disputed territories in the South China Sea. ''Both Australia and the United States are concerned that increasingly provocative behaviour in advancing maritime territorial claims in Asia poses an increasing risk of miscalculation, and in the worst case, conflict,'' it says.

''Neither the United States nor Australia takes a position on sovereignty in these territorial disputes. But we both strongly oppose the use of intimidation, coercion or aggression to advance any country's claims.''

Mr Abbott and Mr Obama said they were ''strongly committed'' to the 12-country Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal. The TPP, which excludes China, would ''deepen integration among economies that account for almost 40 per cent of global GDP'', they say.